Lost Boys
by nightchandac
Summary: This is my own version of the fourth episode of the miniseries, with the inclusion of my own original character. It is by no means perfect. I just wanted to get this thing out of my head. It's actually a piece of s**t and I'm so sorry.
1. Chapter 1

**POV: TJ**

TJ was in his room, buzzing from the excitement of the club opening, when he heard a soft rapping at his door. Rolling his eyes at his younger brother's shyness, he called "Come in, Andy, geez."

Andy slowly opened the door and held out his arm on which he had draped five different ties. "Which one should I wear tonight, man? I can't decide." Andy eyed his brother's simple outfit and chuckled. "Maybe I'm just thinking over this too much," he offered.

TJ feigned hurt and smiled. "Hey, I gotta look sharp for this," he said while grabbing the slim red tie off Andy's arm. "This one's good. Hey, maybe you should take something to calm your nerves, huh?" he asked and headed to his dresser.

Andy looked confused. "You're an idiot if you keep your shit in your dresser," he said. "And I dunno, man…I'll be fine once we get there."

"Whatever," TJ whispered and closed his underwear drawer. "I was just gonna give you a benzo, but if you insist."

Andy perked up. "You got benzos? And you neglected to mention this to me before this moment because…?" Andy had an anxiety problem and TJ was often the one to whom he vented his fears.

"I got 'em for you since you're too scared to get professional help." He reached back in the drawer and pulled out a small orange pill bottle and dumped a few pills into his hand. "This should do the trick," he said and handed them over to Andy whose hand was already outstretched.

He downed them without water and, after swallowing the last one, thanked TJ and left the room. Once again, TJ rolled his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**POV: Andy**

TJ and Andy were, as Andy often said, not the black sheep of the family. Douglas was simply the white sheep. Both boys were very similar in their lifestyles. Andy's friends used to say the only difference between them was that one was gay. Well the joke was on them. While Andy had never officially come out, he knew he was at least half gay. He laughed out loud at himself for thinking of the term "half gay" and startled himself.

"What's so funny, Andrew?" Elaine asked over her wine glass.

Andy looked up languidly and simply shook his head. He felt good. He felt relaxed. He took a deep breath and drank the water that was sitting in front of him. Mixing benzodiazepines and alcohol was lethal and he had every intention of surviving the night. After all, his older brother had worked his ass off to get this night club up and running and he didn't want to ruin the night.

After about twenty minutes of idle chatter (idle for the Hammond family, anyway) the man of the hour finally made his way downstairs. Gunnar, TJ's sober partner, handed him a glass of water, but TJ pushed it away. "No thanks. I'll have something a little stronger," and with a smile that stretched across his face, he grabbed a mineral water from the kitchen counter. He never opened it.

TJ cleared his throat and smiled softer this time. "Guys, I just wanted to say thank you. I know you had your doubts, but I think you're all gonna be impressed with this place."

Bud, busy filling his plate at the buffet table, chimed in. "About tonight…I'm afraid I can't do. I can't be the only one here with the balls big enough to say that this is a terrible idea."

TJ's jaw dropped. Andy slammed his glass down on the table. "Seriously, Dad? You're gonna do this right now?"

"No, Andy, it's fine. Of course he's not going. He never gave a shit about anything I did anyway. He never wanted to be proud of me." TJ bit back.

"Oh, please, TJ. A night club? Have you got your head so far up your own ass to fail to see how much of a problem you've got?" Bud countered.

"Maybe you'd care if I was a pussy hound like you. You gave up on me the second I came out, dad. What about Andy, huh? What if Andy was the one to open this club? You'd care, right? You'd go support him because he's not gay."

Andy just stared with wide eyes. "What the fuck?"

"TJ, don't be an asshole," Doug chimed in.

Bud shook his head. "No, TJ. You both got problems. You're both making terrible decisions in going tonight. I can't support that. You got no chance staying sober at a damn night club," Bud argued, popping a few grapes in his mouth.

Doug cleared his throat. "Okay, well it's about time we all head out—"

TJ held out a hand to stop him. "No. Fuck you all. Stay here and gossip about my problems. You don't care anyway," he said while waving for Gunnar and Andy to follow.

"TJ, please. I have been there for you when you were at your lowest. I was there when you tried…" Elaine said through choked-back tears.

He stopped. "I hope you don't expect me to thank you for that. Because I never will." He turned back and opened the door.

"I've pulled you up. I've protected you… Honey, I am spent. I can't do this anymore. You're destroying yourself. This club opening is a bad idea…please…" Elaine pleaded, but as she spoke, TJ closed the door behind him, leaving with his small party to the opening.


	3. Chapter 3

**POV: TJ**

In the limo, after too much angry silence, Andy finally turned to his brother. "What the fuck, TJ? Why did you bring me into that?"

TJ just turned away and looked out the window. After a few more minutes, he finally dropped his head and sighed. Turning to look at Andy, he said, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just thought that things were finally looking up…that this club could magically change things…When Dad said he wasn't coming, I guess I just realized how much of an idiot I am. I'm sorry I brought your shit into it."

Andy clasped him on the shoulder. "Dude, fuck them. Just because the country loved them enough to let them control them doesn't mean they're perfect. They're shitty, okay? They only care about us when we fuck up their images. Let's make our own waves in the Hammond news tonight. Let's make this a night we can only remember by reading about it tomorrow," he said quietly.

TJ chuckled. "Okay, calm down there, Robert Frost. Save your poetic shit for some other time."


	4. Chapter 4

**POV: Andy**

After a few hours of dancing with beautiful women and having his ear drums blasted into next week, Andy decided to go look for TJ. The Xanax was wearing off and he wanted to see if his brother happened to have brought more. Heading into the back, he passed Gunnar who took notice and decided to follow. Andy rolled his eyes. As much good as he was doing, TJ had to be chafing under the constant watch.

"TJ! Hey, man, this place is awesome! Everyone's—"

TJ looked up, his eyes red-rimmed and a few lines of white powder in front of him. He smiled wide.

Andy sighed. "Fucking hell, TJ…"

Gunnar finally stomped up the stairs and stopped next to Andy. "TJ, are you serious? Come on; let's get you out of here."

TJ jumped up. "No way, man! Look at this place. I finally did something great and no one's fucking here to see it. Isn't it great?"

Gunnar was moving forward to grab his arm, but Andy stopped him. "Stop, man. It's too late to get him out."

TJ laughed and pointed at Andy. "See? Andy knows what's up! It's time to get fucked up. So fuck off, _Gunny_."

Gunnar shook his head. "No way. TJ, you may have relapsed but we can get you outta here before you do something stupid." Once again, he reached out to grab TJ's arm, but TJ fought back.

"Is that really what you wanna do? Think about it. When this place takes off, I need a right-hand man who's somebody. He's gotta be an A-lister, not some boonie Appalachian babysitter. Who you gonna be?" he asked, pushing a line of coke his way.

Gunnar stared at TJ for a moment and, finally, reached out and snorted the line. TJ clapped him on the shoulder and looked up expectantly at Andy, still smiling, still beaming. "You want in?" he asked.

Andy shook his head. "TJ, are you seriously doing this? This is your club! You should be out there….showing your face…" He knew what he was saying was falling on deaf ears as he watched TJ snort line after line. "Hey, bro, slow down! You fucked up, okay. But you're gonna kill yourself!"

TJ snapped his head up. "If you're not gonna join in, then fuck off." He reached into his pocket and tossed the bottle of pills at him. "Take a chill pill," he said, laughing at his own joke.

Andy rolled his eyes and poured a small handful of pills into his hand and swallowed them in one gulp. He felt conflicted. He knew TJ was going overboard and had messed up big-time in getting Gunnar to join him, but Andy had messed up in just walking away. Pocketing the pill bottle, he pulled out his phone. Who was he even going to call? Shouldering past the crowd at the doorway, he stepped outside and took a deep breath of the cool night air. He sat on the curb and dialed.


End file.
